The 100 Best Rock Songs Of All Time According To Ultimate Classic Rock

The magazine Ultimate Classic Rock has taken on one of music criticism's most classic "impossible missions": selecting the 100 greatest rock songs of all time. However, it's a ranking that interprets the concept of rock in a very broad sense, pushing well beyond the genre's traditional boundaries.
"The list of the 100 greatest rock songs isn't limited to classic rock'n'roll records," Michael Gallucci explains in the introduction, "it also includes pop, soul, disco and metal, genres that, in our view, still fall within the broad territory of rock, or perhaps, in an even wider sense, of popular music." What emerges is a cross-cutting journey through more than seventy years of music, bringing together rock'n'roll pioneers, great songwriters, hard rock and metal bands, and soul and pop stars. One hundred tracks that, according to the Ultimate Classic Rock editorial staff, have left a decisive mark on the collective imagination and accompanied different generations.

Here's the ranking of the 100 greatest rock songs of all time according to Ultimate Classic Rock (full feature here).

100. Jackson Browne – “Running On Empty”
99. The Allman Brothers Band – “Ramblin’ Man”
98. Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
97. Funkadelic – “One Nation Under A Groove”
96. Sex Pistols – “Anarchy In The U.K.”
95. Elvis Presley – “Heartbreak Hotel”
94. The Byrds – “Eight Miles High”
93. Ray Charles – “What’d I Say”
92. Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams”
91. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – “Ohio”
90. David Bowie – “Heroes”
89. The Police – “Every Breath You Take”
88. Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here”
87. Percy Sledge – “When A Man Loves A Woman”
86. Grateful Dead – “Dark Star”
85. Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
84. Judas Priest – “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'”
83. Iron Maiden – “The Number Of The Beast”
82. Blue Öyster Cult – “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
81. Buffalo Springfield – “For What It’s Worth”
80. John Lennon – “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)”
79. Def Leppard – “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”
78. Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On A Prayer”
77. Van Halen – “Jump”
76. Elvis Presley – “Hound Dog”
75. Don Henley – “The Boys Of Summer”
74. Chuck Berry – “Johnny B. Goode”
73. Sly & The Family Stone – “Family Affair”
72. Iron Maiden – “Run To The Hills”
71. Prince And The Revolution – “Kiss”
70. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Purple Haze”
69. The Who – “My Generation”
68. Bob Dylan – “Tangled Up In Blue”
67. Don McLean – “American Pie”
66. Prince & The Revolution – “Purple Rain”
65. Four Tops – “Reach Out I’ll Be There”
64. Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
63. Carl Perkins – “Blue Suede Shoes”
62. The Ronettes – “Be My Baby”
61. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “All Along The Watchtower”
60. Steely Dan – “Reelin’ In The Years”
59. Paul McCartney And Wings – “Band On The Run”
58. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
57. James Brown – “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine”
56. Black Sabbath – “War Pigs”
55. Led Zeppelin – “Kashmir”
54. Bruce Springsteen – “Thunder Road”
53. Oasis – “Wonderwall”
52. Journey – “Don’t Stop Believin'”
51. Billy Joel – “Piano Man”
50. ZZ Top – “Sharp Dressed Man”
49. Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio”
48. Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”
47. Talking Heads – “Once In A Lifetime”
46. Metallica – “Master Of Puppets”
45. The Supremes – “Where Did Our Love Go”
44. Simon & Garfunkel – “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
43. The Kinks – “You Really Got Me”
42. Kiss – “Detroit Rock City”
41. Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love”
40. Aerosmith – “Dream On”
39. The Who – “Baba O’Riley”
38. The Who – “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
37. Van Halen – “Runnin’ With The Devil”
36. The Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back”
35. Smokey Robinson And The Miracles – “The Tracks Of My Tears”
34. Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
33. Alice Cooper – “School’s Out”
32. Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
31. Def Leppard – “Photograph”
30. Derek And The Dominos – “Layla”
29. The Band – “The Weight”
28. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – “Night Moves”
27. Rod Stewart – “Maggie May”
26. Elvis Presley – “Suspicious Minds”
25. Queen – “We Will Rock You”
24. Little Richard – “Tutti Frutti”
23. Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”
22. Eddie Cochran – “Summertime Blues”
21. Guns N’ Roses – “Welcome To The Jungle”
20. The Clash – “London Calling”
19. Roy Orbison – “Oh, Pretty Woman”
18. Aretha Franklin – “Respect”
17. Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
16. Eagles – “Hotel California”
15. The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”
14. Marvin Gaye – “What’s Going On”
13. Aerosmith – “Sweet Emotion”
12. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”
11. Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Fortunate Son”
10. The Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations”
9. ABBA – “Dancing Queen”
8. The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows”
7. AC/DC – “Back In Black”
6. The Rolling Stones – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
5. Bruce Springsteen – “Born To Run”
4. The Beatles – “A Day In The Life”
3. Bob Dylan – “Like A Rolling Stone”
2. Led Zeppelin – “Stairway To Heaven”
1. The Beatles – “Strawberry Fields Forever”

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